Inside The Bills

EJ Manuel was watching the 2014 NFL draft like the rest of us back on May 8th. He naturally got excited when he saw the Bills move up from ninth to fourth in round one. Before the pick however, EJ got a phone call tipping him off as to who the team was about to pick.

“C.J. called me right before the pick and I guess he got wind that we were going to take Sammy that we were trading up to get him,” said Manuel. “We were both excited. Obviously with C.J. being a Clemson guy, but if you watch college football on Saturday you always saw Sammy making big plays. So we’re very happy about the pick.”

As for his thoughts on Watkins on the practice field today, Manuel was encouraged.

“Well I was extremely impressed with him the first day beyond his physical attributes, he’s a big guy, he’s a big receiver,” said Manuel. “But at the same time he works hard too. He does a lot of things after practice. So whenever we’re finished he’s still out there walking through his routes on his own. That’s what you want to see from a fourth pick overall whose coming in with huge expectations. You want to see him put that front foot forward and work hard. So I’m extremely happy to have him on our team.”